Alakoma
Created by /u/ophereon Alakoma, the rising wave. (short for Alakomaatasawapumimakalaimahanakaranuiketipapari'aimoananuii, or "The Rising Wave, Land Under Heaven of the Capricorn, The Great City and Surrounding Islands of The Great Ocean"). Termed so because of the fact that the islands are gradually sinking beneath sea level. Geography Capricorn live in three distinct areas, the first and most populous is the capital city (Hononui), which is notable for the fact that it is presently 1 mile below sea level. Much magical engineering has been carried out to ensure that this ancient city remains shielded from submersion. Numerous shrines around the city serve to channel energy into the barriers that hold back the rising wave, but these need to be constantly attended by the city's mages, and draw additionally from the leyline nearby. This task is one of the region's most magically expensive, requiring a significant amount of energy to maintain. But as the heart of Capricorn society, no expenses are spared by the ambitious small mercantile nation. Mountainous Islands are the next most populous area for Capricorn society, and perhaps also the most vital, as it is where much of the nation's food is produced (discussed later), as well where its minerals are harvested, particularly iron and electrum, and some precious gemstones (notably a mineral akin to Alexandrite). Beyond the main islands, many villages lie on atolls, sometimes even in the centre lagoon of the atoll, usually submerged. Biology Capricorn are a two-formed folk. A semi-aquatic ichthyocentaur race, the Capricorn's upper half consists of a typical human torso, arms, and head, albeit with notable ram horns. The lower half is horse-like, with flipper legs and a long tail ending in flukes not unlike that of a dolphin. Just below the split between the human and horse parts are gills, with an additional set of lungs in the lower half of the body adapted for aquatic life that allows the Capricorn to breathe underwater. Despite being mostly mammalian, Capricorn lay softshell eggs that look like blue sandstone spheres. Racial Quirk The Capricorn are able to transform this lower body into typical human legs, giving them the ability to more easily maneuver on land and blend in with regular humans (if you can look past their horns). This transformation has a few caveats, however, notably being impossible while a Capricorn is pregnant, since the baby is carried in the horse half. Further, the Capricorn is infertile while in human form because it is the lower half of its true form that contains its reproductive systems. One upside is that the lower half is also where much of a Capricorn's fat is stored, giving the upper body a lean swimmer's look, helped toned by their semi-aquatic nature, which carries over into its transformed human form, allowing even overweight Capricorn to appear as though they were chiseled out of marble by the very gods themselves (or at least they would like to gloat this were the case, some pudginess may be visible in individuals). History The city beneath the rising wave is an ancient settlement and has been the heart of Capricorn society since before their own history begins (and they were introduced to a proper writing system by the lizards to document said history, replacing their rather impractical pictographic system. The modern Capricorn langauge uses a descendant of the ancient script of those lizards). Since then the city, along with other Capricorn villages, have evolved soaking in influences from many different neighbours, but the lizards had played a special part in helping advance the then relatively withdrawn Capricorn. The Wu Xing Empire has also played a big part in their connection to the world, with the Capricorn acting for a long time as a tributary state of the Wu Xing Empire, from which many customs were adopted, influencing Capricorn cosmology, magic, and science. Society In modern times, the Capricorn prize progress and trade, and this can be seen in their building of a mercantile nation with aspirations to gather knowledge, wisdom, and artifacts from all over the world, as well as share their teachings and understanding of the cosmology of the world we all share. This thirst for knowledge fuels a thriving academic and science sector, although this is often attempted to be balanced with the traditional Capricorn faith, which has a heavy focus on astrology. This balancing can sometimes be difficult, and often creates some conflict between the two sides. Despite this strive for modernisation, Capricorn society is tempered with an honouring of tradition, engraved into society by the Capricorn traditional faith which incorporates reverance of and the worship of geographic spirits, ancestors, and the celestial bodies. Despite this thriving science sector, however, Capricorn society is not the most industrialised, and relies a lot on overseas manufacturing for non-traditional products. Capricorn society has always been very group-oriented, with villages often raising its kids communally. All adults in the village are treated as a close uncle or an aunt, despite possibly not being related by blood. This view extends to the economy of the Capricorn, whose society largely works on a Socialist Market Economy model, with public ownership of most of the vital resources and industries such as food, health, education, and property. Capricorn government is similarly group-oriented, as a Democratic Directorial Theocratic Parliamentary CommonwealthTM. Historically a collection of city states, the modern unified Capricorn society has a directorate as the head of the unicameral Parliament, filled by elected individuals from each of the city states. The rest of Parliament is filled by a mixed-member proportional representation system. The head of state is a largely ceremonial role given to the high priestess of the traditional Capricorn faith, it is similar in function to the monarch of a constitutional monarchy. Culture Clothing Capricorn clothing follows an Indo-Austronesian aesthetic, partly influenced by the lizards. Lizard textiles are popular among those in the city, although rural areas often make clothes out of a cloth from mixed fibres from the kowa kelp and the pihoa leaves, which give a soft yet durable and water-resistant material. Electrum is prized by the Capricorn, and much of what they find is made into jewellery that they wear. Religion Hokukan is the traditional animistic faith of the Capricorn, and revolves around worship of spirits and oversouls, in particular, geographic spirits, ancestors, and the celestial bodies governing the principles of the world, which are all viewed as the celestial objects in the sky, the stars, planets, sun, and moon. Worship is carried out through festivities involving music, dance, and other performances, effectively throwing a party for the spirit they wish to appease. Offerings to the spirits are also made, usually of various items of which the spirit is believed to enjoy. Formal prayers to the spirits are also carried out during such events, typically conducted by a shaman, with some audience participation. Psychoactive substances are commonly used during such prayers. The constellations and the zodiac (to come later) are a significant part of Capricorn faith and daily life. Sekarakan is a faith that was brought to the capricorns by one of the disciples of Segara’s prophet. Segara was originally viewed in a monotheistic and panentheistic manner, but in capricorn society it is viewed as the oversoul of the world. Sekarakan introduced to the capricorns additional forms of worship, notably meditation and group prayers. Sekarakan is often not viewed as a distinct religion in capricorn society, due to its syncretism with the Hokukan faith. A wide majority of capricorns practice this syncretic faith, rather than only Hokukan or Sekarakan. However, the distinct practices are more commonly found in the worship of Segara than with other spirits or oversouls, keeping Sekarakan as a visibly distinct tradition. Segara is conflated with the capricorn traditional Turtle Dragon God who is believed to hold the world upon its shell. Sekarakan also introduced the concept of chakras to capricorn society. Martial Arts Although the Capricorn are a peaceful people, Palikara is a combat that has found its way into Capricorn society as a means of sporting challenge and fitness. The Palikara tradition has its roots in lizard society and was developed in capricorn society during the cultural transmission period that saw the rise of the Sekarakan belief system. Palikara is centred around a martial tradition derived from lizard silat martial arts. Magic Magic is viewed highly in capricorn society, as it is intrinsically connected to the traditional faith, although are rare as magic practitioners are, they are prized and often from a young age put into places where they can best serve their communities, sometimes regardless of their own desires. The Capricorn recognise a number of different magical traditions within their nation, which all now have firm roots in Capricorn society: * Asakamakan, “the way of the sun and moon”. The Asakamakan tradition stems from traditional capricorn spirituality and is centred around the principle of duality, yin and yang, drawing energies from the two oversouls of balance. * Shintao, “the way of the planets”. The Shintao tradition follows from the spirituality and philosophies introduced by the Wu Xing Empire. Shintao magic is centred around the principle of the five elements, drawing energies from the five oversouls of nature: Wood, Fire, Earth, Thunder, and Water. The celestial houses of these five oversouls are the nearest five planets in the solar system. Shintao magic is used particularly for the fields of evocation and transmutation. Its primary physical catalyst is calligraphy and talismans, particularly written in the imperial language. * Advanced Palikara also contains some magical techniques passed onto those who are so gifted, in particular with enchantment and illusion magic centred around the self, to enhance one’s own natural abilities and senses. Other traditions are also slowly making their way into Capricorn society. Economy Capricorn use their scarce land to the fullest, growing a number of vital crops to supplement their aquatic hunting and gathering lifestyles. These crops are even more important for urban areas that rely less on hunting or gathering and more on aquatic farming of seafoods. Major biological products for the Capricorn are listed below: Tree fruits such as: * `Iko fruit, or meatfruit, a type of jackfruit or breadfruit often barbequed to create a product reminiscent of lamb meat, in lieu of not having any mammal meat farms on the land. * `Akai fruit, or onionfruit, often a type of fruit similar to durian but much milder in flavour and similar in profile to an onion or garlic. * Koko nut, or milknut, a type of coconut that produces a milk more similar in taste to that of cow's milk. The kokonut tree leaves are broader and similar to flax, and are used to weave into baskets. * Maki, it's a polynesian banana. Banana leaves are also often used for serving food and as a protective wrap for certain cooking methods. * Pakan, or vanilla pandan, a type of pandan with a more vanilla-like flavour, the leaves are often used to extract flavour which is then used in deserts. Wood from the above trees are often also used for architecture and boat-making. A number of ground products such as grains and tubers * Lile, a long-grain rice cooked as is or ground into flour for baking. * Ko`o, sugarcane. * Kipo, soybean, eaten as immature soybeans, as bean sprouts, or fermented mature beans made into a paste. * Ka'ali, cabbage. * Popo, a golden variety of sweet potato with a more savoury potato-like profile. Cooked as is or ground into flour for baking. * Popokoi, or sweet popo, a sweeter variety of the Popo potato that is purple in colour, between that of Taro and an Okinawan sweet potato, with an almost nutty berry-like flavour. * Pihoa, a type of yam often ground to make an arrowroot flour similar to cornstarch. The leaves of the Pihoa are similar to paper mulberry and can be harvested for fibres to create a type of tapa cloth. * Ni'o, or the Tomato Pepper, a juicy, tomato-like variety of capsicum (bell pepper). * Halo, various types of edible fungi. Terrestrial animal products include: * Hio, a type of fowl between a duck and a chicken, used for meat, eggs, and feathers. * Various insects, such as 'ohile (crickets). Fried and eaten. * Kakara (snails). Fried and eaten. * Meluka, honey. Aquatic products include: * Various fish, such as Kalaki (morwong), Kamule (sea bream), Ka'ahi (tuna). Mostly wild caught. * Koho, a basilosaurus hunted for meat, blubber, (and honour) * Mussels, and other shellfish. Farmed for meat and for pearls. * Kowa, a kelp used for food as well as fibres for cloth. * Kote, salt Exports lumber, salt, kelp-mulberry cloth, blubber, iron, electrum, gems (alexandrite), pearls, food products (Breadfruit, onionfruit, milknut, banana, vanilla pandan, rice, sugarcane, soybean, popo, sweet popo, arrowroot, tomato peppers, mushrooms (including hallucinogenic varieties), duck, eggs, fish, basilosaurus meat, shellfish). Imports tea, spices, medicines, metals, textiles, dyes, porcelain, non-traditional industrial manufacturing Reddit Posts *The Capricorn of Alakoma, The Rising Wave (January 13 2019) *Capricorn Mathematics and Measurement (January 17 2019)